Canadian Solar Secures GBP49.3 Million Refinancing with NatWest For 50 Megawatts Solar Power Projects

GUELPH, Ontario, Dec. 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company", or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ), one of the world's largest solar power companies, today announced that it has secured GBP 49.3 million (US$62.8 million) non-recourse term loan facilities to refinance a portfolio of 10 solar power plants, with total capacity of 50 megawatts in the United Kingdom. National Westminster Bank (NatWest), a subsidiary of RBS Group, is providing the 18.7-year term facility. Part of the proceeds will be used to repay a construction loan of GBP 28.1 million (US$35.8 million).

"We are pleased to be working with NatWest, a leading UK bank, to finance our portfolio of 50 MW of solar power projects in the UK. This transaction demonstrates yet again the quality and bankability of our solar power projects" commented Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar. "We are proud to cooperate with NatWest to promote the adoption of environment-friendly solar energy in the UK to help mitigate climate change."

Kevin Maddick, Structured Finance NatWest added: "We are proud to be able to support Canadian Solar with this solar power investment, which reinforces NatWest's position as a leading funder to the UK solar sector."

About Canadian Solar

Founded in 2001 in Canada, Canadian Solar is one of the world's largest and foremost solar power companies. As a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules and provider of solar energy solutions, Canadian Solar also has a geographically diversified pipeline of utility-scale power projects in various stages of development. In the past 15 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over 17 GW of premium quality modules to over 90 countries around the world. Furthermore, Canadian Solar is one of the most bankable companies in the solar industry, having been publicly listed on NASDAQ since 2006. For additional information about the company, follow Canadian Solar on LinkedIn or visit www.canadiansolar.com.

Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release regarding the Company's expected future shipment volumes, gross margins, business prospects and future quarterly or annual results, particularly the management quotations and the statements in the "Business Outlook" section, are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These statements are made under the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by such terms as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "estimates," the negative of these terms, or other comparable terminology. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include general business and economic conditions and the state of the solar industry; governmental support for the deployment of solar power; future available supplies of high-purity silicon; demand for end-use products by consumers and inventory levels of such products in the supply chain; changes in demand from significant customers; changes in demand from major markets such as Japan, the U.S., India and China; changes in customer order patterns; changes in product mix; capacity utilization; level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in average selling prices; delays in new product introduction; delays in utility-scale project approval process; delays in utility-scale project construction; cancelation of utility-scale feed-in-tariff contracts in Japan; continued success in technological innovations and delivery of products with the features customers demand; shortage in supply of materials or capacity requirements; availability of financing; exchange rate fluctuations; litigation and other risks as described in the Company's SEC filings, including its annual report on Form 20-F filed on April 20, 2016. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance, or achievements. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All information provided in this press release is as of today's date, unless otherwise stated, and Canadian Solar undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.